Pool Stats: rectangle with 1 meter circle jacuzzi swim out at one corner. 4 x 6 meters, 1 meter to 1.5 meter depth, avg temp 80 degree F, sand filter, 1 hp pump, so swimmers, indoors under roof. Marblelite plaster finish. Same water for 26 years with 1 inch of topping off monthly. this is my parents pool and I do not knnow all the chemicals, how much used nor how often. Chemical stabilizer was added about 15 years ago. Backing solda was added when the pool was built. I drained half of the pool about 5 years ago and added 1/2 pound of stabelizer. Only chemicals over the years has been Chlorine Tablets, 2 tablets per week. Filter operates from 4 to 8 am, daily. To date the pool maintained PH within the normal range pink and Chlorine high at bright yellow.

We are going to start using the pool and wanted to reduce the Chlorine smell in the house,so I wanted to switch to Bromide tablets. I read the chlorine level had to be within normal range, so I stopped all chlorine. It has been two weeks and the PH is almost purple, and the Chlorine is dark orange.

I am about to go back to adding Chlorine becuase the levels are going up- not down.

I read that Bromide is high maintenance, having to shock the water regularly, adding one thing or another.

For years the pool worked perfectly with just the Chlorine tablets. The chlorine odor (gas?) in the house is probably dangerous for a baby to live in.

How do I get the chemical levels back to normal. Is it best to stay with the Chlorine Tablets or change over to Bromide?

It has been two weeks and the PH is almost purple, and the Chlorine is dark orange.

Your pH has skyrocketed and you need to get it back to normal with a pH reducer. The OTO chlorine test you are using is not giving an accurate result due to the high pH.

wanted to reduce the Chlorine smell in the house

Add more chlorine. Low chlorine levels can result in combined chlorine, which smells bad and has very poor disinfectant properties. A shock should break these aromatic chlorine compounds down. A properly chlorinated or slightly over-chlorinated pool will NOT give off a chlorine smell.

Thanks for the recommendations. I am going out in the morning for the PH reducer and shock treatment. I hate to waste the water by emptying the pool, but Do you think it would be better to start all over?

Over-chlorinating the pool, seems to go against logic, to reduce the smell in the house. But It appears to be true, because the smell is going up as I am waiting for the chlorine reading to go down. Remember I have not added any chlorine for a couple of weeks, but the smell is getting stronger.

I have pretty much decided not to use the bromide tablets, unless someone can say it is less work and chemicals than chlorine.

Once I get the balance back, do you think it is fine using the Tri clor tablets as the only source of chlorine or should I use a variety of presentations from time to time.

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm. Even with a low chlorine usage in an indoor pool, the CYA can build up quickly if you don't dilute the water. To avoid this problem, use unstabilized chlorine such as chlorinating liquid or 6% unscented bleach. You could have some small amount of CYA in the water to start with, say 20 ppm, but you don't want very much for an indoor pool (most regs say not to use any CYA at all in an indoor pool, but then the chlorine strength is very strong unless you keep the FC level very low).

One Thing you can do that will help reduce the smell (remove chloramines) is to use a non-chlorine shock (such as potassium monopersulfate 45.2%). This will oxidize the organic compounds that are binding to the chlorine and creating chloramines, freeing up the chlorine. This is usually a better way to go than break point chlorination because if you don't use enough chlorine to reach the break point, you will just create more chloramines and now your problem is many times worse. With non-chlorine shock, the only thing you can do is help, regardless of how much you put in (unless you put too much in of course). Also, this non-chlorine shock is acidic and will also help lower your pH. If you solve your chloramine issue, your pool won't have the strong chlorine odor.